1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a mounting structure of a drive-shaft, and more particularly to a mounting structure of a drive-shaft that can prevent a constant velocity joint from separating by bringing a housing of the constant velocity joint connected to a transmission in close contact with a companion flange in respect to changes in length and bending angle of a shaft due to behavior of a wheel, in a vehicle, such as a rally car, which requires rapid replacement of a drive-shaft to reduce maintenance time.
2. Description of Related Art
Rallies are held for rally cars modified from common vehicles and running not on exclusive racing roads, but specific sections. There are differences in rule of rallies, but the cars taking part in the rallies are basically supposed to run a predetermined section within a given time.
Since the courses of rallies include not only common roads, but also mountain roads, icy roads, and deserts, the rally cars have to have high power that can provide a high speed and durability that makes it possible to run under bad conditions.
Further, in the rally cars, parts with a problem should be quickly replaced or repaired within a limited time and all of parts (particularly, the parts in the driving system that are necessary for driving the cars) should be separated or assembled as quick as possible for a routine check, even if they normally work.
That is, the rally cars frequently roll or fly at a high speed in accordance with the road or surrounding situations, so the parts of the driving system are likely to be damaged. Rapid maintenance is very important for obtaining good results in races.
On the other hand, the drive-shaft in the parts used in rally cars is connected to a transmission at one side and to a wheel at the other side to receive the driving force from the engine. The drive-shafts for rally cars are required to be able to be quickly separated and assembled, in addition to having high durability, as described above.
However, it was difficult to satisfy those conditions with the structures of the related art. That is, referring to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B showing a constant velocity joint at a transmission of a drive-shaft for rally cars in the related art, a housing 2 is fitted on the end of a shaft 1 inside a companion flange 3 connected with a transmission (that is, which is the output of the transmission). The shaft 1 in the housing 2 transmits a driving force through a roller kit and is coupled such that a bending angle is generated and sliding is allowed, and the other end is connected to a wheel through a joint at the wheel.
The housing 2 is combined with a boot 4 and a predetermined amount of grease is in the boot 4 to lubricate the roller kit. Further, a boss 5 is fixed to the companion flange 3 and the housing 2 is bolted to the boss 5 by a fixing bolt 6.
According to the structure of the related art shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, since the housing 2 is firmly combined with the companion flange 3 by the fixing bolt 6, it is very safe in terms of preventing separation of the housing 2.
However, in the structure of the related art, in maintaining or when repairs or replacement is needed, it is required to take off the fixing bolt 6 fixing the housing 2 in order to remove the shaft 1 from the transmission. It was required to separate the boot 4 by removing a band fastening the boot 4 and then remove the grease too in order to take off the fixing bolt 6, which was very complicated. Further, in assembling, it was required to fixing the housing 2 to the companion flange 3 by tightening the fixing bolt 6, putting the grease into the boot, and then assembling the boot 4 and the band.
Accordingly, it was difficult to maintain the constant velocity joint in the assembled state (with the shaft and the housing combined) in the structure of the related art due to complicated assembly and separation. That is, it was required to separate the housing 2, the spider, the roller kit, and the shaft 1, respectively, in managing them.
The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.